Delaware Bay

The Delaware Basin encompasses 13,539 square miles (mi) and contains one of the longest un-dammed rivers in the United States, extending 330 miles from the confluence of its East and West branches at Hancock, N.Y. to the mouth of the Delaware Bay. Significant amounts of historical and current water-quality monitoring (physical, chemical, and biological) has been conducted in the watersheds, estuaries, near-shore, and off-shore parts of the basin by Federal, State, local, private, and academic entities. It is the intent of this effort to inventory, compare methods, and enhance data exchange in support of the National Monitoring Network. The watershed is home to more than 200 fish species, and provides habitat for federally protected endangered species such as dwarf wedgemussels, short-nose sturgeon, bald eagles, and bog turtles. Nearly 15 million people (about 5% of the nation's population) rely on the waters of the Basin for drinking water which includes about 7 million people in New York City and northern New Jersey who live outside the Basin.